I cook with local, organic, and seasonal ingredients. I have a fondness for simple meals, with a touch of Provençal gourmet.

Mostly, I keep this blog because I know that you want to know what I had for lunch today.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

The very last of the beans

We harvested the very last batch of broad beans on the 13th of December, and pulled out the vines to make space for our fava seedlings. Most were dry enough to save in a jar, but some were still fresh and white, and so we made our favorite bean dip. Boil fresh beans twenty minutes or so, with a stick of rosemary in the pot. Meanwhile, peel and pound in the mortar and pestle many cloves of garlic, along with the leaves from a stick of rosemary. To aid with the pounding, add salt, and once the garlic is a paste, mix in good olive oil to help it pour out. When the beans are softened, drain them and remove the boiled rosemary twig. In a medium bowl, whisk together beans and the garlic-and-rosemary paste, until the beans have mostly mashed.